Massive Immigration Reform Rally Proceeds in Washington; Several Congressmen Arrested Amanda Peterson Beadle - Immigration Impact
go to original October 9, 2013

Mass protest for immigration reform ends in arrests of 8 Congressmen (AVIA 333)

After several thousand people rallied for immigration reform in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, more than 100 activists were arrested outside of the Capitol during a protest to push the House to vote on immigration legislation. Those arrested for refusing to move out of the street included eight Democratic members of Congress: Reps. John Lewis (GA), Luis Gutiérrez (IL), Raúl Grijalva (AZ), Keith Ellison (MN), Joseph Crowley (NY), Charles Rangel (NY), Al Green (TX), and Jan Schakowsky (IL).

The House members who were arrested marched from a rally on the National Mall to a street in front of the Capitol with their fellow protesters. The rally’s massive crowd followed and packed both sides of First Street to witness the civil disobedience. Prior to the protest and their arrests, Gutierrez told the rally crowd that it will take both Democrats and Republicans to pass immigration reform and fix immigration policies that are hurting communities

“We know the enormous toll it takes on our families, our neighborhoods and our peace of mind,” Gutierrez said. And Lewis, a civil rights movement icon who helped lead the March on Washington in 1963, said there are those who want them to wait on immigration reform but that it’s needed now. “I’ve been arrested a few times, and I don’t mind getting arrested again for something that is right and fair and just,” Lewis said. It was his 45th arrest.

Read the rest at Immigration Impact

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